Marcillac: an affordable wine to fall in love with

Forget points. Forget shopping-list tasting notes. Forget wine tasting as a ‘competition’ to see which wine is best.

The endorsement I will give this wine is that I love it. Each vintage I have tried has had the same personality. It’s the personality of a particular grape variety grown in particular soils.

It’s bloody, ferrous, meaty and fresh, with minerality and bright fruit. It’s drinkable. It’s food friendly. And I like to drink it.

Best of all, it’s affordable, at under £10.

If I had this on the table with Lafite 2005, I would drink this first (if my experience of Lafite 2005 last year was typical – a tightly bound wine with roast coffee oak notes that wasn’t all that much fun to drink at the moment).

15 comments to Marcillac: an affordable wine to fall in love with

This exactly what wine should be about, and also describes ‘serious’ young Bordeaux very well.
I want to add to your main site article on science/wine – on closures. I think what is often forgotten about the Australian experiance is the pressure winemakers came under from UK supermarkets (especially 2) to move from cork into synthetic. The whole synthetic industry here was driven by the UK supermarkets, and Australian drinkers were not enthusiastic about them at all. It was possible ‘branded’ wine here with cork but in the UK it would synthetic. Duting this period (1999-’03) I was involved in developing a plastic plug and we felt it important to employ a full time staffer in the UK to deal with the bulk bottling halls and the buyers. I know winemakers here felt the pressure applied onto the new world to move into synthetic was not being applied to the old and because of the almost total reliance on the UK market for exports had no option but to change. Many winemakers believed that although synthetics made life easier for the shops, it was a detrimental mave for wine quality.
The move into screwcap was different and was taken up by consumers and winemakers here with gusto.

Hi Jamie
I don’t think it is very fair to compare this wine to a Bordeaux First growth in any way. Unfair comparison as these wines are such differnt horses for courses! Im glad you like it though!
Thanks
Will

I love this wine, and bought 3 cases at a merchant in Rouen in September. Four and a half euros per bottle on special offer, so this is this year’s house wine. Les caves de pyrene must be making a decent margin…

The Marcillac is great value though I do say so myself and is my house red. Ben – the UK landed cost of the wine (after duty, transport and handling) is over £5.50 so although we make our margin it is as it should be and no more.